


Senior Night

by ladymac111



Series: copper [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Marching Band, POV Third Person, Past Tense, by historical i mean 2005, lance makes a cameo appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 18:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11788695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymac111/pseuds/ladymac111
Summary: Pidge and Hunk have played their last halftime show as members of the TW marching band, but they aren't ready for the night to be over yet.





	Senior Night

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in one (1) day because I couldn't get it out of my head, and I set it in 2005 because apparently I wanted the sort of pointless challenge of having them graduate from high school a year after I did and not including any anachronisms in the story.

Pidge was staring blankly out at the football game when she saw Hunk round the corner of the bleachers and start his climb, a plastic tray of nachos in hand, just like he’d promised.

Of course, it’s not like he was hard to pick out of the crowd -- if you could even still call this a crowd.  It was October, and it was chilly, and it’s not like their football games were ever crowded even in good weather because they had a grand tradition of losing.  Adding to the effect, a big chunk of the band hadn’t come back after they were dismissed following the halftime show, so the bleachers were pretty sparsely settled now, partway through the third quarter.  Most of the band kids remaining were seniors who, like Pidge, felt the need to stay because this was their last home football game.

Hunk was still wearing his whole band uniform, though he’d unzipped the jacket and tucked his gloves under his right epaulet, a flash of white against the green jacket and gold honor cord.  He was even still wearing his beret, which he seemed to always forget.  She tried to ignore the thing to the right of her heart that thought it was really cute.

Pidge was still sort of in uniform, though she’d put her hoodie on under her jacket and traded her hat for one that was warmer and had a big U of M patch on the brim, courtesy of Matt.  Her gloves and sticks were in the uniform hat, upturned on the bench beside her -- and now bereft of its chicken for the last time.  Well, the last time except for next year’s Fourth of July parade, but that hardly counted.

They had finished the last halftime show of their high school careers, and now … they weren’t really in marching band any more.  Of course they still had basketball season, but that wasn’t the same, just out-of-tune classic rock played way too loud in the tremendously awful acoustics of the gym until Mr. Smythe decided enough was enough and let them leave.  It was nothing at all like marching in formation on the football field in full uniform, the show, the spectacle of it all.  There was no lining up on the track, no hissing before the atten-hut, no bribing Lance to let her click on the quads instead of him on the snare.  No percussion feature with ridiculous dance moves and stick twirling.

There would be no more cadences as they marched off the field, no more swirly.  Never another night to scream _eyes with pride_ at the top of her lungs while she let the tears fall down her face before she turned in her chicken.  Tonight was the last time that she would cross the parking lot with Hunk and Lance to put their equipment away in the band room, hacking at whatever funk tune Hunk had learned that week and seeing if they could set off a car alarm by being really fucking loud.  They didn’t tonight, to their disappointment -- and it was senior night!  It almost felt unfair, they should be causing as much mischief as they could.

Lance had left after they put their drums away, going with a group of other band members to get ice cream at Murf’s.  But Pidge and Hunk had stayed, even though they weren’t actually interested in football.  They both felt like this was their last chance to be here, so they’d do it, they’d hang onto that feeling of being in band for another hour or so.  Plus both of their moms were heading up concessions on behalf of the Band Boosters, so their rides were at the school until the game ended.

Hunk joined Pidge at the very top of the bleachers.  “You picked a good spot.”

“Of course I did, this is your spot.”

“Must be weird for you, leaving the drumline to come up here to the top of Sousaphone Mountain.”

She grinned and grabbed a chip.  “You say that every time.”

“Is it funny every time?”

“It wasn’t even funny the first time, man.”

He shrugged.  “Your mom gave us extra nacho cheese, and free jalapenos.”

“Wow, didn’t charge you the extra quarter?  She must like you.”  She popped the chip in her mouth.  “This is good, eat it before it gets cold.”

It didn’t take them long to finish it, and once Pidge had got the last of the cheese out with her finger Hunk set the tray aside, carefully putting his tuba mouthpiece where the chips had been so it wouldn’t blow away.

“It’s a nice night,” he said.

“Yeah.”  The breeze kicked up for a moment, chilling her, and she leaned into his side; he put his arm around her shoulders.  “Sort of cold though.”

“Aren’t you wearing pajama pants under your uniform?”

“Yeah, but I’m still cold.”

He rubbed her shoulder.  “Maybe we should head out.”

Pidge sighed.  “I dunno.  I feel like … this is my last chance to watch a Tosa West football game, you know?  My last chance to hang out here at the top of the bleachers with you.”

“The bleachers aren’t that great.  And the football sucks.”

She giggled, and was a little horrified that she’d done it.  “But still.  It’s like … the whole halftime show experience is over now, and I kind of want to hang onto the tail end of it.  You know?”

“Yeah.”  She couldn’t see his face, but she heard the emotion in his voice, and when they’d been in the swirly she had caught a glimpse of him and he’d been crying so hard he couldn’t even cheer.  “I know it’s still fall, but as much as I’m totally not going to miss high school when we graduate, I’m going to miss marching band.”

“You could go to a university that has one.”

“I’d never make the cut at a Big Ten school.  And I wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to it either, I don’t think.”

“That’s fair.”

“And anyway, without you it wouldn’t be half as fun.”

Pidge’s heart leapt inside her chest.  “Yeah.”

They sat quietly for a minute, actually watched a play on the field and groaned when their team fumbled into a turnover at the twenty yard line.

That bit to the right of Pidge’s heart was growing larger and warmer as the minutes went on, taking over her entire chest.  She’d been noticing it more and more for the last several months, starting over the summer when Hunk had gone to visit his family in Hawaii for two weeks and she’d been completely without him for the longest time in years.  They’d been best friends ever since sixth grade: the outcast nerd girl who was obsessed with Pokemon, and the awkward new boy with the accent, who happened to also be an enormous nerd.  Their friend experience had improved significantly after middle school, and Hunk had lost his islander accent, but they’d remained an inseparable unit, doing practically everything together.

But something about senior year felt different to Pidge, starting with Hunk’s absence in July.  Normally they saw each other almost every day in summer, so she hadn’t really known what to do without him.  And Matt had stayed at college that summer, working, so she was on her own to stew in her uncomfortable lack of Hunk.  She had started thinking that after next summer she’d be without him again, because what were the chances they’d go to the same college?  Like, it could happen, but would it?  Would they even want to?  They would still stay friends, clearly, but things were going to have to change.

“You okay?” he murmured, jolting her out of her head.  “You seem tense.”

“Yeah, I -- I just -- Senior Night is getting to me.”

“Yeah,” he said gently.  “I know.”

But he didn’t know everything; Pidge barely knew it herself, though it had been there since July.  Well, she _knew_ it, but she was, like … afraid to look directly at it.  It was too big, too meaningful.  And tonight, up here on the chilly bleachers with him, she suddenly found it was too much to keep inside.

Come what may, she had to let it out.  She was terrified it would ruin what she had with Hunk, but she couldn’t keep being eaten alive by this.  It had gone on too long already.

She pressed into his side for a moment before she sat up, and his arm fell from her shoulders to rest on the metal bar of the bleachers that went across the middle of their backs.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she said, keeping her eyes on the football field, and she felt him stiffen beside her.

“Oh?”

“I’ve been … I should have told you sooner.”

“Pidge, you’re making me nervous.”

“I’m sorry.”  She put her hand on his thigh, patting for a second before she pulled her hand away and twisted her fingers together in her lap.  “Anyway, I … this is hard for me to say but I want you to promise that this isn’t going to change anything with us.”

“Nothing could change anything with us,” he said, and although his words seemed like reassurance he sounded frightened.

“It’s … the thing is….”  She forced herself to look at him, and his eyes were wide.  The feeling in her chest overflowed.  “I think I’m in love with you.”

His breath did a funny thing, a little gasping out-and-in, and he blinked quickly.  “Y--You what?”

“Don’t make me say it again.”  She folded her arms tightly across her chest and looked away -- _stupid, stupid_.  How could she have thought this was a good idea, that it wouldn’t change anything?  And with only months of senior year left….

But then his arms were around her, his face tucked into the side of her neck, and he practically pushed her over sideways onto the aluminum.  “God, _Pidge._ ”

“What?”  Her heart was in her throat, pounding in her ears, deafening.  She managed to free her arms enough to grab the front of his uniform jacket as he sat back a tiny bit.

He shook his head, grinning with tears in his eyes.  “I never thought you’d actually say that.  Not in a million years.”  He put both hands on her shoulders, then slid them around onto her back, holding her close again.

He had never hugged her quite like this before.  “So, it … this is _nothing changing_ with us?”

“It’s okay with me if things change a little,” he said.  “God, Pidge, I’ve loved you for years.”

She clutched the wool of his jacket and the zipper dug into her palm.  “Years?”

“At least one year, anyway, I don’t -- I don’t know.  I never -- I never thought you’d feel the same.”

Pidge could feel the tears prickling in her eyes again -- she’s cried so much tonight.  “You never let on.”

“Of course I didn’t.  You’re my best friend, I -- I couldn’t.”

“I know.  I understand.”  She pressed her face into his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her back.

“Are you still cold?”

“Yeah.”  Despite the two pairs of pants, her butt was getting cold from sitting on the bleachers with the wind going through.

“I don’t feel like we need to stay for the fourth quarter.  We’re down by twenty.”

She picked her head up and tried to look at the scoreboard through her smudged glasses.  “Only twenty?”

A little laugh burst out of Hunk -- they’d lost the homecoming game by forty.  “Things could still change.  I don’t really care, though, I want to go get some real food.”

Pidge took his hand, and he stilled.  “Before we go, I … there’s something I’ve kind of … always wanted to do.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Uh-huh.”  She swallowed, and her face was warm despite the wind.  “If you’re up for it.  Um.”  She swallowed again.  “I’d like to kiss you up here.”

A smile spread across his face.  “Leave marching band on a high note, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He lifted his hand to her cheek, and she tightened her fingers on his jacket as he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, brushed again, and then lingered for a moment before they both drew back.

Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe, and Hunk sat there with his eyes closed for a moment before he opened them and looked at her again.  “I think that was the best first kiss in the history of ever.”

A laugh burst out of her, sudden and almost hysterical.  “Yeah, I think so.”

He wrapped her up in his arms again, squeezing tightly, and she’d never felt so close to him, so loved, so safe and happy and perfect.  “I love you,” she said again.

“I love you too.”  He sat back and brushed his fingers over her cheek.  “You’ve been crying.”

“Yeah.  It’s an emotional kind of night.”

“Happy tears, right?”

“Definitely.”

“Okay, good.  Me too.”  His hand slipped around to the back of her head, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead, just below the brim of the hat, before he released her.  “Are you hungry?  I could make us some second dinner.”

“I could eat second dinner.  What are you gonna make?”

“I dunno, maybe like macaroni?”

“The good stuff or the shitty stuff?”

“Depends what’s in the pantry.”  He stood up and collected the plastic tray that had held their nachos, and stowed his mouthpiece back into the chest pocket of his t-shirt.

Pidge picked up her hat, and made her way over to the stairs.  “I like the shitty stuff better.”

He laughed, and she glanced over her shoulder at him.  “I know you do.  Do you want to stay over tonight?”

“As long as my mom says it’s okay.  I’ve got my pajama pants on already anyway, so I don’t really need to go get anything from home as long as you’ve got a toothbrush for me.”

“I’m sure I do.  And we could hit Walgreens if it comes to it.”

“Cool.”  She had to focus to go down the steps, but he was right behind her.

He dropped the tray from their snack in a bin and then took her hand.  “So your mom was in the concession stand when I went there after halftime, but I don’t know where my mom is.”

“My mom was saying they were going to be manning it together tonight, she was talking about it being a girls’ night.”  Pidge rolled her eyes dramatically, which made Hunk laugh.  She squeezed his fingers for a second before she let go.  “I bet she just stepped away before.”

And sure enough, Hana was in the window when they got close enough to see her, and waved at them as they approached.  “Hey, kiddos.  Had enough?”

“Yeah,” Hunk said.  “Pidge is going to come over for some food, and is it okay if she stays tonight?”

“That’s fine with me.”  She turned around.  “Colleen?  My son wants to have a sleepover with your daughter tonight.”

Pidge’s mom appeared in the window, a stack of wrinkled dollar bills in her hand -- she was counting out already, since there didn’t seem to be much of a demand for snacks anymore.  “Sleepover, huh?  I thought that was the plan anyway.”

Pidge tried not to blush.  She often stayed over at Hunk’s after football games -- not to mention other occasions, like _because it’s Friday_ \-- but it wasn’t exactly a standing plan.  “Not officially.”

Colleen shrugged.  “That’s fine.  Be home by three tomorrow, okay?  We have plans with Grandma.”

“Okay.  And I need to get my backpack from the car before we go.”

“Oh, sure.”  Colleen disappeared again, and a moment later tossed her keys at Pidge.  “Come right back.”

“Thanks, Mom!”  She set her hat on the counter and grabbed her drumsticks, then took off for the parking lot, leaving Hunk facing the suddenly pointed scrutiny of their mothers.

“Are you going to take the car?” Hana said, forcefully casual.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll drop you off when we’re done here,” Colleen said, looking back down at the cash in her hands and starting to count it.  “Too cold to walk.”

Hana nodded, and kept her eyes on Hunk.  “Sounds good.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hunk said, feeling exposed.

“Because I _know things_.”  She folded her arms on the counter and leaned towards him.  “You told her just now, didn’t you?”

Colleen’s head popped up.  “Told her what?”

Hunk shifted closer to the window and couldn’t help smiling.  “She actually told me first.”

Hana grinned, and reached out and patted his cheek.  “I’m so happy for you, baby.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Oh my god,” Colleen said suddenly, putting the money down with a little thump and a jingle of change and staring at Hunk.  “She actually told you she’s in love with you?”

“How did everyone know but me?” he whined.  “I’ve been over here _suffering_ and you both knew?”

“She’s allowed to have secrets,” Colleen said, and Hana nodded.

“Sorry, kid.  It was up to her to tell you.”

“She didn’t know I knew anyway.”  Colleen put the stack of bills into the cash box and wrote something on her clipboard.  “She’s not exactly subtle, but I like to let her pretend she is most of the time.”

“Did you know _I_ was in love with _her_?” Hunk asked, and Colleen tipped her head back with a little laugh.

“Oh, honey, you’re even more obvious than she is.”

“I promise I didn’t tell anyone,” Hana interjected.  “But once Colleen guessed we did talk about it.”

“That’s fair.  I guess.”  He looked toward the parking lot, but didn’t see Pidge returning yet.  “So, do you guys … since you’ve talked about it, do you think it’s going to be okay?  With me and Pidge doing the romance thing, I mean.”

“Completely,”  Colleen said, without hesitation.

“For sure,” Hana agreed.  “My only advice would be to make sure you hang onto your friendship above everything else.  If you’ve got that, you’ll be great.  You and her have been through a lot together already.”

“Just please use protection, okay?” Colleen said, picking up another stack of bills.

“Oh my god.”  Hunk dragged his tuba beret down over his face with both hands, while his mother laughed.  “We’re not even close to that.”  Not emotionally close, anyway.  From a physical perspective, they always shared his bed when she slept over because it was a double.  He didn’t mind being smashed against the wall, and she always got her own blanket because she was a hog.

“You never realize how close you are,” Hana said, still laughing but gentle.  “But I know you’ll both be smart about sex, when you get to it.”

“Please never say that to me again.”

“Oh, come on, I know you’re almost eighteen, but I’m still your mom.”

Hunk took his hat off his face, just in time to see Pidge reappear from the parking lot, jogging up the path towards them.  “Oh thank god.”

Hana craned her neck to look.  “In any case, don’t burn the house down until I get home.”

“I won’t.  You’re not going to be out late?”

“No, we’ll close up when there’s five minutes left in the game and I have to get up in the morning.”  She reached for him, and he leaned in and let her kiss his cheek.  “Have fun.”

“Okay.”

Pidge made it to the window.  “Keys.”  She set them on the ledge and picked up her hat.  “I didn’t mean to keep my sticks but the band room is locked now so I’ll have to hang onto them until Monday.”

“Don’t forget to hang up your uniform when you take it off,” Colleen said.  “I know your garment bag is at home but I don’t want you looking wrinkled next time you wear it.”

“I’ll give you a hanger,” Hunk said.  “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.  Bye, Mom.”

“Bye honey, have fun.”

“I will, see you tomorrow.”  She took Hunk’s hand for a second, made eye contact and smiled before she let go just as quickly.  “Let’s go eat, I’m hungry.”

  
  


Hunk’s house was near the high school, only a five-minute drive, and when they got there they hung up their uniforms and wiped the mud off their marching shoes before they went into the kitchen.  Hunk had the shitty mac and cheese after all, so he got it started while Pidge sat down at the table and got out a notebook.

“What’s that?”

“Thing for the planetarium.”

“He’s really letting you program a show?”

“What, like it’s hard?”

He laughed.  “Right, okay.  What’s it going to be about?”

“Not sure yet.  Right now I’m just learning all the things Mr. Spitz can do.”

“Is that what it’s really called?  I thought that was just a cute thing for the little kids.”

“I mean, sort of.  The brand is called Spitz and it totally looks like a dude.”

“That makes sense.”

“It actually does, unlike a lot of nonsense in astronomy.”

“You’re talking about Pluto again, aren’t you?”

She put her pen down forcefully.  “Don’t even start, man.  It makes no sense at all and it frustrates me.  How did we as a society get so far without having a reasonable, scientifically-based definition of a planet, anyway?”

 _I’m in love with this girl_.  He pulled out the chair next to Pidge, perched on the edge of it and kissed her.

She made a little surprised noise in her throat, and then pulled back, just a tiny bit, her nose still touching his cheek.  “Don’t try to shut me up by kissing me.”

“I would never.”

“Good.”  She leaned in and kissed him again, a little harder, before she sat back with a little gasp.  “Because I do intend to talk your ear off about classification later when I’ve done more research.”

“I look forward to hearing it.  Later.”

“Yeah, later.”  She put her hands on the sides of his face and he wrapped her up in her arms, and they kissed until the pot of water on the stove boiled over.

  
  


Hana got home while Pidge was unhooking the VCR from the TV in the living room.  “Hi Pidge.”

“Hi, Mom.”  She leaned over to wave at her before she went back to her task.  “How was the Boosters thing?”

“Good, we made more money than we expected.  Did you guys have your dinner yet?”

“Hunk is dishing it up right now and we’re gonna watch Gundam Wing in his room.”

“I wondered what you were doing to my television.”

“Just scavenging parts since we only have it on tape.”  Pidge finished what she was doing behind the set, then scooted around to the front and removed the VCR from the cabinet.  “I promise we’ll put it back and reset the clock when we’re done.”

“Sounds good.”

Hunk came in then, holding two bowls of macaroni.  “Hey Mom.”

“Hey sweetie.”  She kissed his cheek.  “You guys all set?”

“Yup.  I didn’t wash the cooking pot yet but I will before we go to bed.”

“Thanks.  I’m going to turn in right away, I have work in the morning.”

“Yeah, I know.  We’ll keep the volume down.”

“Thanks.  Have a good night, you two.”

Hunk and Pidge echoed the _good night_ , and then took their dinner and the VCR into Hunk’s bedroom.  He pushed the door shut, and set the bowls on his desk while Pidge knelt down and got to work plugging things into his TV.

“So,” he said hesitantly, sitting on the edge of the bed.  “Our moms know about us.”

“Know what about us?”

“That we’re together now.  Like, together-together.”

Pidge’s head whipped around, and in her haste she yanked the RCA cable out of the machine.  “What the hell?  How do they know?”

He shrugged awkwardly.  “I mean, they both already knew we liked each other because apparently we’re obvious.  And while you were getting your backpack my mom guessed or something so … I confirmed it.”

“Oh my god.”  Pidge flopped forward and crossed her arms over her head.  “Not you,” she mumbled with her face in her knees.  “Just … generally.  Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”

“God, I bet my mom is telling my dad right now.”

“Your dad is cool.”

“He’s cool if he doesn’t think a boy is going to have sex with his daughter.”  She sat up and looked at him.  “You didn’t have to overhear the long discussions he and my mom had the first time we had a sleepover.”

“But that was freshman year, he must be okay with it now.”

“He _was_ okay, with how things _were_.  Past tense.  But things are different now.”

Hunk didn’t like the way his heart was tightening with anxiety.  “Your mom was fine with it.  She … she told me to use protection.”

“Oh my GOD.”  Pidge flopped down again.

“I told her we weren’t going to do anything.”

“Good.  Thank you.  The absolute _last_ thing I want my parents thinking while we’re hanging out is that we’re fucking.”

This was something they ought to talk about, though.  The first hour of their romance had been very easy, just their same relationship with the addition of kissing, and hugs that were a bit more emotional than they had been before.  But even though they’d spent the night together in Hunk’s bed dozens of times before, it was different now.  “So, uh.  About that, though.”

Pidge sat up again, looked at him, and he could tell that she knew exactly what he meant.  “Oh.  Yeah, that.”

He nodded and tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry, and he couldn’t keep looking her in the eye.  “I mean, like … things don’t have to change as far as sleeping arrangements.  This can be how it’s always been.  I don’t … I don’t want to … to try anything like that yet.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly.  “Me too.  I mean -- I’d like things to stay how they were.  Despite … that.”

“Okay.”  It came out of him in a little gust of air, releasing just a bit of his tension.  “We’ll take our time with that.  Business as usual otherwise.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They were quiet for a moment, enough so to hear the tap running in the bathroom.

“So,” Hunk said.  “Gundam Wing?”

“Right.  Yes.”  She turned her attention to the devices again, and after a couple of moments had it all hooked up.  “Do you remember where we left off last time?”

“Yeah.”  He pulled a tape down from the shelf.  “In the middle of this one.”

“Cool.”  She took a bowl off the desk, then sat on his bed and scooted all the way back to the wall.  “This is pretty, what did you put on top?”

“Just parsley.”

“It looks fancy.  Does that go with curry powder and fake cheddar cheese, though?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Okay.”  She dug her spoon in and took a bite, then nodded.  “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course I am.”  He pushed the tape into the VCR, then picked up his own bowl and joined her on the bed.  “Ready?”

She snuggled into his side.  “I’m always ready for giant robots.”


End file.
